San Joaquin County Supervisor Carlos Villapudua and political consultant Allen Sawyer took questions from about 10 people. About 23 scribbled their names onto a sign-in sheet of butcher paper.

Others who attended chose not to leave their names.

Since then, the tax initiative has become public - earlier than its drafters wished. On Tuesday it drew a 4-3 vote of opposition from the City Council.

City Manager Bob Deis, who has sketched out his own vision for attacking crime - the Marshall Plan - and Stockton's financial recovery playing out in bankruptcy court, said he fears the group's move to circumvent City Hall could end in disaster.

Arnaiz and his supporters aren't backing down.

Some of those on the sign-up sheet provided to The Record offered their reactions to the tax proposal and the fiery debate it has fueled.

"For the best interests of the community, the two fighting egos need to be set aside," attorney Howard Seligman said of Deis and Silva. "You can quote me on that."

The obvious animosity between them playing out publicly is destined to undermine them both, said Seligman, who proposes they draft a compromised tax plan.

The Stockton Safe Streets initiative, posed by Arnaiz and Silva, is written as a restricted tax, requiring two-thirds of voter approval in a special election. This tactic will ensure it only goes toward the hiring of police officers.

Deis contends that after bankruptcy, the city will need a general tax without stringent restrictions, giving city leaders the flexibility to bolster public safety and pay Stockton's creditors on debt that is now suspended under Chapter 9.

Why not ask voters, Seligman said, to pass a tax with part of it restricted for police and another portion dedicated to the city's financial recovery?

Stockton Safe Streets, in a March 22 version of the tax measure, proposes to raise $18 million a year in a half-cent sales tax. The goal is to hire 100 additional police officers or more. Both sides agree Stockton needs a stronger police presence.

Officials at City Hall fear the restricted measure would have the unintended consequence of sapping other vital city services. Raising money before Stockton exits bankruptcy is also perilous, officials contend.

City budget hawk Ned Leiba, a partner at Leiba & Bowers CPAs, said he can't support any sort of tax increase until the city gets a grip on its finances.

He has yet to see that, said Leiba, who attended the Centrale meeting on the invitation of Sharon Simas, the mayor's assistant. Raising taxes now is premature, he said.

"It's reckless, irresponsible," Leiba said. "It's a symptom of the same problems that got us into this problem. Who's to say the money isn't going to be inefficiently used?"

Others who attended the meeting were Vice Mayor Paul Canepa, political consultant Don Parsons, and representatives of the law enforcement community who talked about the need for more police.

Sgt. Kathryn Nance, president of the Stockton Police Officers' Association, said she is mostly supportive of the tax initiative, but has some reservations that she's passed along to Silva and Arnaiz.

Chief Eric Jones has restored morale among officers, who aren't warm to the idea of having consultant William Bratton barging in. Drafters of the initiative insist Bratton won't interfere with Jones' authority.

Nance also fears pressure the tax may put on Stockton's fragile general fund, impacting the city's bankruptcy fight. On the flip side, a general tax could fall into unsafe hands a decade from now under the next generation of leaders, she said.

"We could be paying Neil Diamond to play again," Nance said. "Who knows? We can't have that."

Criminal defense attorney Douglas Goss said that as a Lodi resident he's not going to take a position on the tax, despite having attended the Centrale gathering. But he understands residents who like the urgency of wthe tax initiative over one Deis hints at putting on the ballot later as part of the bankruptcy exit plan.

He noted how Stockton became a one-liner Wednesday for Jay Leno, who said: "To give an idea how broke Stockton is, today the mayor gave a key to the city to MC Hammer."

The ribbing is telling, said Goss, who is running for the District 4 seat on the County Board of Supervisors next year.

"We need to increase the number of police on the street to make people feel safer," he said. "How bad is it when our county becomes the topic of jokes on Leno?"

Sawyer, whose own past has come under attack, said the debate needs to return to policy - not personality.

"There's a lot of noise here and in that noise gets lost what we're really arguing about," he said. "Everybody agrees that public safety should be the big priority."